I got an email recently from a reader asking me why I don’t blog every day. And I wrote back that I just don’t have that kind of time, that each post takes at least 6 hours from start to finish. Not to mention, y’all don’t want to see a photo of my strange array of cereal every morning! She wrote back telling me there is no way it takes me 6 hours for a post. That I must be doing something wrong…a post only takes a little while to write.

So for those of you who may be in the dark about what actually happens behind the scenes…let me run down a typical post for you.

1. Decide what you want to make. Which you would do normally in life anyways…so not that big of a deal.

2. Shop for the ingredients. Hopefully that doesn’t require going to multiple stores or a specialty store.

3. Make it! Whatever it may be. And hope that it works out the first time. If you are adapting the recipe from somewhere else, it’s safe to bet that you can go ahead and post it without make it again. But, if you developed that recipe yourself, you have to make it again…and tweak and test it…and maybe even make it a third time.

4. Style and take the photograph the food. Hope it’s not raining. Pray that you didn’t get a piece of cat hair in your food (or maybe that’s just me). And hope that your husband doesn’t eat that perfect cookie you are trying to photograph.

5. Edit the photographs.

6. Write the post. Or if you are like me, stare at the blank screen and then go play fetch with the dog while eating a Caramel Apple Pop because omg they were B1G1 at Publix this week. Then come back and stare some more.

When I got that email, I realized many of my friends/family make comments or remarks about blogging. They don’t get it at all…or they don’t get why there isn’t a new post every day. And the answer is, because it takes work! Thankfully, it’s work that I absolutely love and find extremely satisfying.

I am still shocked that anyone besides my Mom reads my awful tangents and understands my ridiculous sense of humor. And when someone tells me they think I take good pictures, I about pee myself. Photography is hard, yo. But the best part about food blogging, is the sharing aspect. When someone emails me that their husband ate the Roasted Garlic Cauliflower Soup and loved it (and had no idea it had cauliflower in it), I fall in love with blogging all over again. It’s the sharing, the community, the food that keeps me coming back. Oh…plus in the end, it’s cheaper than therapy.

Jorge and I really loved this Pumpkin Snack Cake. It is moist and delicious, but also light and spongey. It perfect next to a hot cup of tea, or in Jorge’s case, coffee. And if you can believe it, in each slice there are only 90 calories! Holy ass friendly!

P.S. The recipe below states to make these in a glass 8×8 baking dish, which is how I normally make this recipe. However, for my birthday my Mom got me a mini square cake pan and it worked out great! So feel free to change it up to what you have on hand!

UPDATE: an awesome reader, Success Along The Weigh, found a look a like mini cake pan on amazon! Apparently it is called a Square Muffin Pan. Here is the one you can find on amazon and here is a photo I snapped of mine on my iPhone as it was going into the oven. My pan is nonstick, but otherwise looks exactly the same! If you load up on some Baker’s Joy spray you shouldn’t have any issues!

Pumpkin Snack Cake

Yield:Yields 9 slices

I know Pumpkin is every.freaking.where these days...but this Pumpkin Snack Cake can easily be turned into a Sweet Potato Snack Cake. Or how about an Apple Snack Cake?? All you have to do is swap the pureed pumpkin for pureed sweet potato or whatever else you may have on hand!

82 Responses to “Pumpkin Snack Cake”

When people ask me how much time I spend blogging, I tell them I really don’t want to add it up. I think 6 hours per post is about right. You also forgot to add in the time you spend doing your thing on TS/FG, Twitter, maintaining a FB page if you do that, reading and commenting on other blogs, responding to emails, etc. Thank god this little hobby of ours is so much fun!

So much win in this post! Completing a blog post is super time consuming and I definitely do the “no cat hair” prayer as well. I love a good snacking cake and I love pumpkin so this one is getting pinned

These LOOK (and sound!) amazing! And I totally understand about blogging…it’s hard work and it’s very time consuming. You do it so well though, so keep up the great work, we all enjoy reading (and drooling over) your posts.

Loved this post. While the recipe looks delightful and the pictures are beautifully styled, it’s that first part of your post that got me I felt compelled to tweet this b/c blogging is totally an art that is under-appreciated.

Ok, so a few questions on this one, and note, I am not a baker, so don’t laugh too hard! Did you use a square pan? And for the pureed pumpkin, did you use fresh and just run a mixer through it or just a fork or what exactly to puree it?

For the mini cakes above I used a special pan for minis. But the recipe is written for an 8×8 glass pan. You could also use a metal one. You just want it to be 8×8 otherwise the cake would be thin. Or you could always just double the recipe if you don’t have an 8×8.

And as for pureed pumpkin…you can use fresh cubed pumpkin, baked till soft, and pureed in a blender/food processor. Or you can buy canned pumpkin!

#4-yes! I’m always worried about my cat and my husband messing with my photos! You do take gorgeous photos and I agree with you 100% that the effort is completely worth it when someone loves your recipes!

#4 = dog fur in our household. Usually mine is I FINALLY get the recipe the way I want it (because even a great recipe, I usually end up tweaking the seasoning somehow), then forgetting where I put the camera! Or, … you don’t get it photographed because you just want to eat NOW and not when it’s cold after all the arranging, photographing, restaging, rephotographing, etc. MUST try this one since its ass-friendly!

You sitting down? Those pics are AMAZING! They made me want to lick the screen but it’s kind of dusty so I saved myself. Okay, where did you get the pan for those things? SOO cute and I would love to pre-portion in something other than the standard muffin pan. 90 calories? Hot damn!

Oh Jessica, these are adorable and I pretty much love you for writing everything you did.

I have done posts like this recently, too, when people say they want more recipes…well I do a few recipe posts per week and the other posts are non-recipe posts b/c shopping for the ingredients, deciding what to make, actually making it and hoping it works (and not everything turns out!), then food styling it, shooting it, editing the pics, posting them, posting the recipe, submitting it to the food sites (b/c after all that work you know you’re going to want to..ha!)…yes…TIME CONSUMING. Unless of course you slap up a photo of your oatmeal or salad, it’s hella lotta work and even that takes work. Blogging takes time, period.

I agree – the only ones who understand what truly goes into blogging are those living with you (experiencing the time and frustration sometimes waiting to be told to go ahead and eat) and other bloggers. BTW I always adore your pics. So fun. And that fork – I want it…. with a piece of pumpkin snack cake

I can’t believe what some people will put in an email. I think 6 hours is on the light end, it seems to often take way more time than that. A layer cake, or a pie or tart that require dough to be chilled can easily take me the better part of the day to make and photograph. Then comes the editing and post writing. Blogging isn’t for lazy people, contrary to what many may think. Thank god it’s fun! And you’re right, those kind emails and comments make it all worth it.

I commend you for the post. I barely manage to post these days because I’m bad at photography and am 8 and a half months pregnant (so standing up to cook is not a priority).

It DOES take time, a lot of it – and many people take more time than that, even!

You do a wonderful job. Part of what I like about your blog is not the actual recipes (though those are great), it’s the writing… the references to a variety ofhings, the humour, and the glimpse into your life. Kind of stalkerish, but roll with it, yo.

Ahhhh… completely understand! I dont think that anyone who doesnt blog can truly understand how much work goes into each post. Once, I had one of my friends do a guest post for me (he is not a blogger, just a home cook) and he was SHOCKED how long it all took from start to finish. Those who do it regularly can totally appreciate the beauty of your posts.

Heck I agree with the photography. I don’t get chances to take pictures with natural light and it drives me wild! I can only do any blogging when everyone is in bed….I’m learning and as soon as I figure out how to make fake sunlight….that isn’t a tanning bed,…ill make sure to share!

I love reading your posts Jess, being that I have actually no real girl friends left here since you left me its nice to see your doing alright at “keep in touch” this way.

Girl, I hear ya. Loud and clear. I nearly had a meltdown the other day because – on top of the fact that I had about 358,938,458 things to do – my Mom called and asked me why I haven’t been blogging. It was a bad time to ask a question like that. I love blogging. LOVE. And it makes me sad when life doesn’t allow enough time for me to do so. But like you said, it’s more than just “Bake. Type. Post!”, and only another blogger could ever understand what that means. {And I’m not even that great at it yet! Still practicing!!} Anyway, keep making it look easy & fabulous… whenever time permits!

Blogging is truly a labor of love – it does take a lot of time, but as long as you’re having fun still, it’s worth every minute. Love the little square pans your mom game you for these little snack cakes.

Great post! Great recipe (versatile I may say). I’ll try it with apple sauce (I don’t like pumpkin unless you promise this is a miracle cake like the now famous cauliflower soup!)
And keep up the good work!

I’m ok with pumpkin being everywhere, this sounds lovely! And I get you on the 6 hour thing. You’re doing it right, you take nice photos, and post an awesome amount. I get puuuuumped when you have a new post. You rock.

This person who emailed you obviously doesn’t blog about food themselves! When I first started blogging I had no idea how much time it really does take from beginning to end, but I love it. Its the perfect amount of distraction from the rest of our crazy lives. I love the comments from all the fellow food bloggers in response to the email. You definitely hit a spot in all of us

I love that these little cakes are individually baked and not cut out from a larger cake. It makes it so easy to grab and eat on the go

Aw, I’m sorry you got an email like that It makes me kind of sad when people have no idea the work it takes. You’re completely right, it does take a lot of effort and time! Keep it up, I think your stuff is awesome(pictures and all :D).
These cakes look so yummy, I’m keeping this recipe to try out some time, you never know when you’ll want a recipe like this and the ingredients list looks perfect.

Wow! I can’t believe someone would email such a rude thing! It’s not as if you have some sort of obligation to blog everyday. I love blogging and baking and it’s a great stress reliever for me. I wish I could do it everyday but there is this thing called life…

Okay, I love your post! Love the recipe of course, but holy smacks!! Blogging is alot, ALOT of work. Yes, we love it, but it takes time and the all things you mention is what I experience all the time, so I feel ya!

These look delicious!
I’m laughing….it’s so true about what people think. I once has someone email me and say, I’m not going to read your blog if you aren’t going to make the recipes printable. Which of course I had NO IDEA how to do. Still don’t have that function set up so apparently I’m not really doing what others want and yes my mom wants the recipes to be printable too But I really enjoy it and the community, it’s so great to do what you love and I’m so glad to read someone else feels similar.
My favorite line is, are you still doing that blog thing….why?

I just found your site from foodgawker. I’m so glad you wrote about this topic! It’s incredible how much time and energy I put into trying to post twice a week. It’s an enormous undertaking! Good thing its so much fun!

I love that you wrote this!!……..I think so many don’t realize, how much time it takes…….I bet I spend more than 6 hours, because I lake forever to WRITE a post! lol, then making sure I have it tagged right, seo title, seo tags, a good post title, proper links in my post, and all the little extras you have to do besides just write it……….oh, we didn’t even touch on after it goes live, time spent, tweeting, and FB about it!

Thank you so much for reading my mind! I have just recently started the whole “food-blogging” thing, and many people underestimate the amount of time and effort put in to it! You’re doing a great job, and I can’t wait to make this recipe!

You are so right Jess. I think this is why I stopped writing my food blog. Takes too much time. Or, maybe it’s because I’d rather be playing World of Warcraft or EverQuest. hehe Recently, I have wanted to start up another blog about thinks I love and things I hate. But then, I think about all the time it will take up and that idea goes out the window. My biggest problem with the food blog? Remembering to take a picture before I eat the subject. LOL!

I’m so glad you posted this. I honestly have no idea how some bloggers post every day. I definitely need more time if I have to wait for rainy days to pass and the whole process easily takes me 6 hours if not more.

Great job making others realize how time consuming (and rewarding) blogging is. I’ve gotten the same remarks a few times now and I’ve never really been able to put an actual number of hours out there only because I really don’t count all the time I spend on blogging… although it consumes most of my time. Wonderful and well written post!

btw… recipes sounds and LOOKS delish! Can’t wait to give it a try… now I need to go run and buy one of these cool mini square baking pans.

Most of all, you bring up really good points – I’m sure there are people who can churn out fluff in less than an hour but thoughtful, informative posts don’t just happen in a matter of minutes, least of all recipe posts! I do admire people who can just “whip up an inspiration post really fast” but how much substance is there in that post? Not a lot I’m sure.

My neighbor dropped off some pumpkin spice bread for us last night, I think this post is a sign I should go eat some. Or all of it.

Great post about behind-the-scenes food blogging. #4 for me would read: hope that kid’s fingers aren’t in picture. I always tell my husband which items are for the glamour shots, and which are okay to eat right away.

Word to the up about the time spent blogging…and I’m just getting started and take terrible photos with no editing (yet). But baking is stress relief and blogging is therapy (and getting comments makes my heart swoon that someone other than my friends wants to know what goes on in my kitchen). Thanks for all your hard work and wonderful recipes!

I couldn’t have said it better myself. And just so you know, your photos are FAB! Your blog is so inspiring Usually I skim through my Blogger Reading List and click on any posts with recipes that catch my eye, but when it comes to your blog, I read every single one of your posts. They are always so entertaining, and never fail to put a smile on my face.

I totally understand you’re frustrations. I feel the same way! It’s nice to know I’m not alone You’re photos are always gorgeous and I love reading your blog. You do a great job! And as a fellow blogger, I truly appreciate the time and talent you put into your blog. Thanks for keeping us entertained and giving us so many amazing recipes!

I haven’t found much time for it lately & when I do find the time, I’ve been staring at a blank screen. Boooo writer’s block.

You do such a wonderful job with your photography & writing, that people are fooled into thinking it’s an easy thing. Even when my Google Reader is overwhelming, I always make sure to read your posts…I appreciate all your hard work!

Aww! I want a mini cake pan too~ I just have 2 mini bundt pans. I can only write posts on the weekend because I just have too much schoolwork during the week!!! I hate 7th grade D: but it just gets harder -_-

You’re so right about the time commitment! I haven’t blogged now in about 2 weeks. And I feel guilty, but sometimes life gets in the way. And I want blogging to be fun, not an obligation based on someone else’s time table!

Love, love, love this post. I can totally relate. My food prep is much simpler than full out cooking you are doing, but only a fellow foodie blogger has any idea the time involved behind the scenes! I die a little inside everytime someone asks me for a recipe because I know it’s going to be a loooong process to get that post up. I think all too often non-bloggers thing posting is as simple as darting off an email…

Anywho, I just found your site and am taking a look around. This post really resonated with me.

Made it this morning. Baked a sweet potato last night (that’s what I had on-hand, no pumpkin) so it would be ready. Added about a 1/4 cup of unsweetened, shredded coconut. Used olive oil (because I couldn’t get the lid off the the jar of coconut oil!).

Ate it while still warm and it was fantastic! Thanks for sharing the recipe.

Leave a Comment

Hey there! I’m Jessica…

I am a trial and error, self taught, sugar addict who thankfully learned how to survive in the kitchen! I have a love for big layered cakes, beautiful shoes, cupcakes with tons of frosting, everything furry & a good cocktail... (more)